SIMS registered in labourers’ names sent to Vietnam; 4 held

FOUR PERSONS have been arrested for allegedly sending hundreds of international SIM cards every month to Vietnam, concealed in a cavity inside a diary, to be used by people for gaming applications and “social media profiteering”.

Police said the accused — Mukul Kumar (22), Hemant (26), Kanhaiya Gupta (29) and Anil Kumar (20) — were part of a syndicate that used to get SIM cards issued in the name of labourers, by enticing them with a minimal amount of money, and sold them to people in Vietnam at higher rates. They received payment through a cryptocurrency app banned in India, said officers.

The case came to light when the IGI unit of Delhi Police received a complaint from the Manager of Operations of Fedex courier, at the airport’s cargo terminal, who said a shipment intended for Vietnam containing a bulk quantity of SIM cards was found during physical checks. These SIMS were covered in carbon paper and kept inside a diary, the complaint said.

“A total of 500 SIM cards were foundinthreeseparatepackages,” said DCP (IGI) Usha Rangnani.

A police team was formed to solvethecase;itpickedup60sim cards at random whose ownership was verified by service providers. It was found that most owners were in Loha Mandi in UP’S Agra and the SIMS were issued from point-of-sales centres in nearby areas.

Subsequently, following raids at Loha Mandi, the SIM card owners,mostlyfactoryworkers,saida man named Mukul fooled them -hegavethemrs200eachfor getting a SIM registered in their names, saying it was to meet the monthly target of POS centres. Mukul then sold these SIMS to Kanhaiya and Hemant for Rs 300 per person and to Anil for Rs 500.

The DCP said, “Anil then used to deliver these SIM cards to a Vietnamaddress...(toaperson)he met on Telegram. He used to get payments in his bank account through Binance, a Chinese cryptocurrency app...the SIM cards, the accused claimed, were being used in gaming apps in Vietnam.”